A climate of fear hangs heavy over Jakarta
By Ivy Susanti
JAKARTA (JP): The Chinese Year of the Tiger brought traumatic roars to many Jakartans, with the claws of crime ripping apart many of their lives in an increasingly inhospitable concrete jungle.
Many may be thankful to close the chapter on the grim images of 1998.
It all unfolded in a helter-skelter cycle.
The rupiah nosedived, prices of goods and services skyrocketed, staple foods became hard to find, street rallies were a daily event, Soeharto resigned, abductions, unrest, looting, arson, riots, street and toll road robberies.
Soeharto's departure failed to stem the disturbances. Instead it sparked more severe incidents, confusing and troubling the hearts and minds of many Jakartans during this frenzied year.
Escalating street crime and fatal brawls involving students and neighboring residents across the city also led many of the 9.6 million Jakartans to watch their fellow citizens warily.
The capital's denizens have usually basked in the great events gracing the calendar year. This year, however, mass gatherings or the convening of the House of Representatives sparked fear among the public.
A whispered comment to a commuter about rumors of riots would be enough to spread across the city.
Frightened Jakartans from all walks of life have armed themselves in the name of self-protection.
Guns, stun guns, pen guns, sharp weapons and even machine guns have become available.
An extreme example is the group of Blok M Plaza security guards. The management provided them with bows and arrows plus swords to ward off prospective looters.
The metropolis, once bustling and gleaming with light, is now a dark fortress.
Minor blast
One of the first disturbing events of the year was the Jan. 18 explosion at a low-cost apartment in Tanah Tinggi, Central Jakarta.
No fatalities were recorded and the simple homemade device caused only minor damage to the apartment.
Saying the blast was linked to an antigovernment movement steered by the then banned youth organization People's Democratic Party (PRD) and aimed at disrupting national stability, the security forces arrested Agus Priyono, 30, one of the tenants.
Agus' two alleged accomplices, identified by police as Prayogo and Cony, have never been detained.
Gen. Wiranto, then Army Chief of Staff, branded PRD a resurrection of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), blamed for an abortive coup attempt in 1965.
Security officers claimed a map and documents found in the apartment indicated the suspects and their group intended to set explosives at several locations in the capital before the convening of the People's Consultative Assembly in March.
The Jakarta Agency for the Coordination of Support for the Development of National Stability (Bakorstanasda) questioned several figures, described in documents as the group's financial patrons.
They included businessman Sofjan Wanandi, his brother Jusuf Wanandi and Media Indonesia daily general manager Surya Paloh. All denied any involvement with PRD.
February was marked by a series of mysterious telephoned bomb threats to offices, banks, shopping malls, ministries and bus terminals. All were subsequently deemed hoaxes but sporadic bomb threats have continued up to December.
Long after Soeharto left office in May, Agus was finally released in September.
Abductions
Reports of the abduction of antigovernment students and activists grew from a trickle to a long list by February.
The long arm of the law caught others.
On March 12, for example, the city military apprehended three students -- Nezar Patria, Mugianto and Aan Rusdianto -- at a low- cost apartment in Klender, East Jakarta, for allegedly making bombs and plotting political maneuvers.
Based on their initial statements and documents seized at the scene, the three were identified as PRD members and charged with links to Agus Priyono.
Other students were caught for more mundane displays of anger.
In early August, the authorities arrested a 24-year-old student, Dino, for allegedly throwing two Molotov cocktails at the security post of Governor Sutiyoso's official residence in the luxurious suburb of in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
The motive for the attack apparently stemmed from a dispute over Dino parking too close to the governor's residence.
High-intensity political conflicts inevitably led to shows of force.
On Oct. 2, a group styling itself as the "People's Saver Front" pelted stones at businessman Arifin Panigoro's house on Jl. Jenggala in South Jakarta and smashed two of his cars.
They demanded that Arifin, owner of the widely diversified Medco Group which includes the country's biggest oil and gas company Medco Energi Corporation, stop financing student rallies and publication of anti-Habibie circulars.
Arifin denied the allegations.
On Oct. 6, members of Volunteers for Humanity, which was providing counseling to rape victims from the May riots, reported receiving threatening phone calls and letters, and that some of its members had been followed. They also claimed to have received a grenade in June at their office in East Jakarta.
A week later, hundreds of people claiming to be members of the People's Voice Committee attacked and vandalized the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) office in front of security personnel.
The people demanded that the office return former workers of textile manufacturer PT Tyfountex to Surakarta, Central Java. The workers, locked in a dismissal dispute with the company, sought legal support and shelter at the YLBHI office.
The attackers labeled the workers as rioters from "out of town".
They also accused the office of neglecting several other important cases, such as the 1984 Tanjung Priok incident when security forces opened fire on hundreds of Muslim protesters.
Unforgettable
Among the most unforgettable and calamitous scenes of the year was the May 12 shooting of four Trisakti University students near their West Jakarta campus.
It triggered a surreal kaleidoscope of rioting, burning, looting and mass destruction.
Trisakti University students Hendrawan Sie, Heri Hartanto, Hafidhin Royan and Elang Mulya Lesmana lost their lives, and many others were injured when security personnel opened fire on the anti-Soeharto gathering.
So far, only two officers from the city police mobile brigade unit -- First Lt. Agus Tri Heryanto, 29, and Second Lt. Pariyo, 38 -- have been court-martialed for failing to follow procedures.
After lengthy trial sessions, the two officers were sentenced to 10 months and four months in jail respectively for ordering their men to shoot into the crowd of Trisakti students.
The students' shocking deaths unleashed an orgy of violence, and contributed to Soeharto finally leaving power after 32 years and at the age of 77.
Thousands of people, mostly Chinese-Indonesians and expatriates, flocked to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in a desperate bid to get flights out of the riot-torn city.
Official reports conclude 499 bodies were recovered from destroyed shopping centers in the capital.
But the Volunteers, led by Catholic priest Sandyawan Sumardi, put the death toll from the May 13 to May 15 riots at 1,193. It also said 168 women, mostly ethnic Chinese, were raped or sexually assaulted.
Official data put the property losses at Rp 2.5 trillion.
Statistics on the destruction are sobering. No less than 2,547 shops-houses, 40 malls, 1,819 stores, 383 office buildings, 535 banks, 24 restaurants, 15 markets, 12 hotels, 1,026 houses, two churches, 11 police stations, 46 automotive repair stations, 1,119 cars, 821 motorbikes and nine gas stations were damaged, looted or burned and almost 520 street lights and traffic lights destroyed.
Although no official explanation was forthcoming, two of the city's top security officials -- city military commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and city police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata -- were quickly replaced.
Friday the 13th
A momentous shooting of protesting students by security personnel was repeated again on the northern side of the Semanggi cloverleaf on the evening of Nov. 13, ominously a Friday.
Eight students and two onlookers died, and dozens of others were hurt.
Sporadic riots and looting took place the following day in Jakarta.
Authorities later announced that 144 soldiers from various military units would be disciplined for firing their weapons without their superior's orders during what became known as the "Black Friday" incident.
From their living rooms, nervous Jakartans could watch the battles played out in the warzone of their city.
Seemingly oblivious to the public's feeling, the authorities deployed thousands of civilian security guards (Pamswakarsa) in November to help secure the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
It did not instill a sense of security in Jakartans, but rather fear of a civil war.
The apprehension was proven when volunteers -- mostly armed with bamboo spears -- patrolled the city in trucks, yelling insults and throwing rocks at student protesters. They often struck passersby for no apparent reason.
When clashes between security forces and students broke out at the Semanggi incident, a number of the civilian security guards were beaten by crowds in Cawang, East Jakarta. At least three died ghastly deaths.
Interviewed at their preliminary base at the Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the civilian guards said they came from different cities and towns in Java, including Yogyakarta, Semarang, Cirebon, Bandung and Banten. Many were jobless.
Some of them were also dispatched to guard shopping centers and office buildings.
A planned media conference with a Pamswakarsa member and a relative of another member on their recruitment was abruptly canceled at the YLBHI office without explanation.
As the year ends and the tiger's roar continues to haunt Jakartans, many hope the upcoming Year of the Rabbit will prove kinder to their fortunes.